The Danish artist Jens Haaning was loaned $84,000 in banknotes by The Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg, to reproduce his 2007 work An Average Danish Annual Income, which featured the notes fixed to canvas, along with another similar work. But inspiration struck, and Haaning pocketed the money instead, then sent back two empty frames titled Take the Money and Run, a protest he said against ” the working conditions of artists”. The museum opted to show the frames anyway but threatened legal action if the cash isn’t returned.
Haaning, says he has no intention of repaying the cash. “Of course I will not pay it back,” he says. “The work is that I took the money and I will not give it back.”
In a recent podcast I listened to Grayson Perry explained he only started earning a living from his art when he was 38 years old, his wife had supported him until then. Think of all the amazing art that has not been made because artists simply find it too hard to make living from their
art.
Does an artist even consider their pensions? are art students taught the basic fundamentals of how to make a living from art, what is your hourly rate, how to formulate contracts for copy right, model release forms, how to put a price on your paintings, it certainly should be.
a n The artists information company is a brilliant resource for artists, they require a membership fee but well worth is.
The Drying Room Blog 